


Taco Dragon AU:

by SourSugarCube



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Humor, F/F, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:47:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28519620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SourSugarCube/pseuds/SourSugarCube
Summary: The Blight Siblings are allowed to live alone in the Blight Manor for a year when the twins turn 18, turns out Amity has a crush on the delivery driver for Taco Dragon, and the twins learn how TOO, and how NOT too make friends.Inspired by The Taco Dragon AU by Nikkydash on Tumblr.
Comments: 18
Kudos: 88





	1. Chapter 1

The sun was finally setting when Amity looked up from her phone while lounging on a sofa. Edric and Emira were both piled onto the cream divan directly across from her, backs leaning against each other for support, while staring at their own respective screens.

It was Friday night, and Amity figured she should probably be out with friends like every other 16 year old. Though, she wasn’t in the mood to Instagram photo-op with Boscha and her gang, and she didn’t have the energy to lie to her parents about spending time with Willow.

Edric and Emira were chill with Willow and Gus, even going out of their way to make up excuses on her behalf when it came to them. Though Amity was positive her parents were tracking her whereabouts, so even if they lied about her being home, or even with Boscha all night, it wouldn’t do much good.

Emira sneezes suddenly, her back pushing against Edric, causing him to tip over the edge to the plush floor, Emira in turn tumbling down after her twin.

“Ok next time- “Edric muttered into the carpet, not bothering to move from where he landed. “Give a little warning before you start dying.”

Emira tried to say something back, but as another round of sneezes attacked, she settled for heavily dropping her phone onto his back.

“Ugh,” Emira whined, voice muffled and sore. “My heads a cotton swab right now.” Emira pushed herself up, batting at her ears trying to relieve the lightheadedness. She softly kicked Edric’s side. “Go tell Olivier- “Edric giggled at the congested mispronunciation of the chefs name, “-To make me soup.”

“Can’t.” Edric said.

“And tea.”

“Can’t.”

“And something with too much mint- “

“C.A.N.T” Edric emphasized, finally pushing himself up off the carpet.

“It’s Friday. Three-day weekends.” Edric told her. Emira just looked at him, not seeming to fully understand what he just said.

Amity spoke up.

“Oliviers not here.” Emira’s shoulders dropped.

“Oh…”

Patting his sick sisters’ shoulders, a grin spread on Edric’s face.

“Buuuuut, we could order something.”

“NO.” Amity complained.

“Something that I’m sure-“

“NO.”

“-both you and Mittens would love.”

“Edric! This would be the forth week in a row.” Amity groaned in displeasure. “And now its not just ME you’re lying too, but poor Emira. J-Just look at her. She’s dying Edric. You’re pranking a dying girl.”

Emira, head full of clouds and snot or not, knows when Mittens trying to get out of one of their running jokes. With her phone lost somewhere in the carpet, she grabs Edric’s and throws it at him. In under 3 seconds he already had the phone to his ear and was running out of the room to keep Amity from figuring out where the food was coming from.

Amity was gaping at the two.

“SERIOUSLY?!”

Edric’s laugh echoed from down the hall.

“ITS NOT EVEN FUNNY!”

Half and hour later. Amity was herded to the door to pick up their “Food.” Whenever she was made to open the door her siblings completely disappeared, and she was starting to think their real master plan had something to do with wherever they rushed off too.

With a sigh and a grumble, Amity yanked the door open, ready to toss the cash at whatever poor soul was on the other side of it.

However, Amity froze instead.

“DELIVERY!”

Holding two full bags of Takeout, wearing a red hat with Styrofoam horns attached, was a girl. A girl with big brown eyes, short curly purple tinted brown hair, and an honest to god real smile that said she was just enjoying life.

“You ordered Taco Dragon?” She questioned, raising the bags a little higher. Amity stammered.

“Uh yes! Its my favorite.” She shakily accepted the bags as the delivery girl transferred them to her arms while taking the cash. Amity nearly dropping everything when their fingers almost brushed against each other.

“Oh, good, I’ll tell Eda-A 100% Tip!?” Amity wasn’t sure when in that transaction she measured out the payment for the delivery, but she’s never been happier about an unconscious action then at this moment.

Having other orders, the Delivery girl waved as she jogged down the driveway.

“You better order again if you’re tipping like that! I’ll come back!”

Amity nervously called after her.

“You better come back! Hahaha…”

A muffled but enthusiastic “BYE!!!!” from the twins sounded somewhere from within the house, though Amity was too busy staring after the delivery car as it drove away, even staying out just a few extra seconds after it was completely out of sight.

Slowly, she dragged the bags inside, shut the door closed, then sliding down it to the floor.

Edric and Emira poked their heads around the corner.

“Sooo…?” They questioned together.

Amity looked from the floor to them, eyes wide.

“Was that creepy? “You better come back!” Was I creepy?” Amity rambled.

Emira started wheezing while Edric was howling with laughter. Another sneeze fit hit Emira before Edric picked the bags off of the floor and once again Amity was herded, this time to the dining room.

If their parents could see those takeout boxes and plastic tubs of soup on the Aged Redwood dining table, they would have made the three of them regret it for a month.

Now however, thanks to their parents time away, the siblings rejoiced in the feeling of being able to eat in peace. The freedom of not getting scolded by what tableware they used. Styrofoam containers and free plastic forks were fine with them, but if Alador and Odalia were there, and miraculously didn’t toss everything straight into the trash, they would have demanded the whole assortment was replated and presentable.

Emira couldn’t care less as she practically chugged hot Tortilla and Egg Drop soup straight from its plastic container.

Edric pretty much claimed ownership over the Peking duck soft tacos.

Meanwhile, Amity just nibbled on a Carnitas steamed pork bun, mind wondering back to who was at the door not 10 minutes ago.

When Emira finally set the tub down, her voice was less gravelly, and she took a big breath.

“Oh my god thats so much better.” Now that she could breathe again, she quickly got back to older sibling business. Pinning Amity with a knowing gaze, she spoke.

“So, Mittens…That sure was a cutey who stopped by…” She casually stole a duck taco from Edric, ignoring his complaints. Amity cringed.

“Can you not- “

Edric piped in.

“Memorized! You were absolutely-.”

“Positivitly-“Emira joined.

“Completely- “

“And utterly- “

“Memorized.” They finished together. Now munching on taro sopaipillas. Amity flushed.

“FINE. Yeah, I know. I…Froze I guess.” She leaned back in her chair, trying to make herself seem smaller against their unrelenting stare.

Uncharacteristically, Edric and Emira gave each other a look…Then just…Dropped the subject. Going on to talk about which movies to watch over the weekend.

Amity was sure they were going to spend the rest of the night, maybe even the whole weekend finding every little way to annoy her or get under her skin about the subject, but they didn’t…

Huh…

…She should probably worry about that later; they were always planning something after all.


	2. Chapter 2

The food from Taco Dragon lasted until about mid-Sunday, and just as well since Amity couldn’t help but get the feeling that Olivier got a little self-conscious whenever he saw food that wasn’t prepared by himself or his staff.

Since the school year had only started two weeks ago, the chef was going all out on the sibling’s lunches. Hand-made puff pastry, butter and brie sandwiches on freshly baked baguettes, and this week an extra thermos of chicken bone broth was added since Emira’s head cold only seemed to be getting worse. Once the semester drags on, He’ll relax too simpler meals unless requested.

Amity would only see the twins during school hours at lunch. The cafeteria at their private school consisted of two levels, the ground level where tables were laid out like normal, and a top level where tables with few chairs were lining walls beside oversized, decorative windows. The twins ate on the top level, right against one of the windows so they had a view of the whole property. Laughing together most likely about either a prank on a Principal Bump, or on some poor substitute teacher who thought they were tougher.

Amity ate on the floor level with Willow and Gus, and Amity couldn’t be more thankful that Boscha and co had a different lunch hour then them. Now she could relax just a bit more her parents wouldn’t find out about who she’s been associating with from them.

Taking a bite out of her brie sandwich, Amity was content to listen to Gus’s story.

“ITS INSANE! They literally use to grind up mummies, FOR PAINT! Mummy brown they called it. Then there was Paris green, which was pretty much just wearing poison-“ Willow laughed.

“Was your whole history class just about paint?” Gus scoffed.

“History? This was a chemistry lesson.” Amity choked a little at that. She should have figured; their history teacher never bothered to be that interesting.

Willow patted Amity on the back until she signaled she was good, Willow then changed the topic.

“You’ve been pretty quiet all week, anything you wanna share?”

Amity scrambled.

“W-What! No, I’m fine, hahaha! Just you know…Lots to think about with t-the trigonometry review test next week.” Gus bumped in.

“Ugh I KNOW! Triangles man…Their evil, I’m telling you.”

Somehow Amity managed to get through the rest of that conversation and the rest of the week unscathed. Finally on Friday, she burst through the front door and collapsed on the decorative love seat placed by the entrance, Edric and Emira not far behind.

“Woof.” Edric remarked, taking off his own bag and plopping it on top of his little sister. “Do you look beat.” Emira followed suit, dropping her bag on top of Edric’s. The love seat groaned under the extra weight, and Amity wondering how they could possibly have more books than her before shoving all their belongings to the ground. Though as they worked their way to the kitchen for a soda, they didn’t seem to care too much.

After a moment Emira called out to her.

“Hey Mittens!” Emira called from the kitchen, “Did you accidently take my wallet this morning?”

Amity crinkled her eyebrows.

“No…” she called back. Emira walked back towards her, water bottle in hand, uncapping it.

“Hmm…” She picked her bag off the floor and looked through it once again. “I had it this morning when we left…And I had it when we were in the office signing up for that extra credit.” Amity frowned and reached down to grab Edric’s bag, maybe it was in there.

“…Then I had it when Ed and I were stuffing Matts locker with shaving cream…” Amity did a double take.

“You what?” Emira ignored it.

“…Then first period…It was gone.” Emira turned her whole bag upside down and dumped everything out before doing the same with Edric’s stuff. Edric strolled back in, curious about all the noise, soda in hand.

“HEY! Destroy your own stuff not mine.” Emira waved him off.

“I can’t find my wallet.” Emira explained, sorting through everything on the ground with growing intensity.

Biology textbook, pens, empty shaving cream can, Edric’s wallet, notebook, box of earrings she forgot were in there, chemistry textbook, physics textbook, Edric’s hair comb-

“Mittens, bag now.” Knowing her things were about to get thrown around, but wanting to still help, Amity moved to a spot on the floor not already overtaken by the twins stuff, and carefully took out her school belongings one by one.

Emira was panicking now. They walked home so it wouldn’t be in the Chauffeurs car-

Edric stood on top of the loveseat, looking down at everything scattered about thanks to Emira’s frantic searching, hoping that his different view would help him spot the thin light tan colored leather of his sisters wallet.

Amity pulled out her own wallet, a blush pink and red designer before turning her bag upside down and shaking for good measure.

Edric crouched down next to his sister, leaning down to look under the love seat to make sure nothing slid underneath.

“Its fine Em, really. You only keep your card in that thing right? We just have to call and cancel it, Voila!”

Edric sat back up with a bounce and a grin. He turned to look at Emira, but she refused to meet his eyes. She was in distress, scanning the floor, straining to spot something everyone else had missed. Emira’s eyes were red, tears threatened to spill from her water line.

Edric sighed, he was trying to be upbeat and optimistic, but that wasn’t going to work.

Scooting closer to his twin, Edric lowered his voice to a softer tone as he spoke.

“Hey, they’re not gonna be mad.” He put a hand on his sisters back, rubbing soothing circles. “We just have to cancel it, it’s been like five hours, anyone who’s stolen it wouldn’t have had time to do anything. And your still sick.” Edric raised a hand and poked Emira’s temple, making her laugh, “It’s all just fuzz up here. You have a COLD. You shouldn’t have even gone to class today. Hell, you could hardly stay awake in physics. How can they blame you for losing track of something?”

Emira didn’t say anything back, not trusting her voice. But she was smiling, and she stopped searching while Edric pulled out his phone and his own card to read the phone number on the back, Amity watched on. Unfortunately, the sight before her was one she was all too familiar with.

They’ve each been punished more then once for some minor mistake that no normal person would spend more than a thought on. Let alone something like loosing a card which could then potentially be used to steal straight from the bank account of a member of the Blight family.

This wasn’t the first time in the past 5 weeks, that Amity was so incredibly thankful that her parents weren’t home.

Emira handed Edric back his phone after finishing the process. The card was canceled, nothing was withdrawn, and a replacement should arrive in the mail in the next 3-5 business days.

After that, Amity nagged them into cleaning up their bags, so they didn’t have to do it on Sunday night. Then Amity went to her room to study for several hours while Emira took a nap and Edric played on the Playstation 5.

After a good three hours of memorizing dates, Amity was about ready for a break.

“MITTENS!!!”

Amity instantly regretted those thoughts ever entering her mind.

“MITTENSSSSSSS!!!!!” Edric and Emira shouted again. Amity dropped her head on her desk. There was a pounding at her door.

“MITTENSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!”

“WHAT!!” She shouted back.

“…”

“Oh my god I swear are you kidding.” Amity muttered under her breath, yanking her door open to see her siblings standing there in overly casual poses. Emira checking her nails and Edric pretending to look at a watch. Amity was gritting her teeth.

“WHAT?”

Edric shrugged, keeping up the nonchalant act.

“We ordered Taco Dragon.”

“She’s walking up the driveway.”

“We thought you liked that place.” Amity eyebrows lifted and she froze. Then perfectly composed, if not completely stiff, Amity walked down the stairs, to the front door. A few seconds once she got there, a door bell rang.

Amity swung the door open, praying they didn’t seem too eager, and her pasted on smile grew into a real one when it was, once again, the same girl as before.

“Haha, I told you I’d come back!” The girl giggled, holding out the bags for Amity, who was trying everything in her power to keep from stuttering.

“You did! Y-You really did come back, thank you… FOR THE FOOD! Thank you…For the food.”

“Its no big deal, its fine driving down Mein…Lo Mein…” Amity was confused.

“Wha-“

“The Lo Mein burritos are a smooth ride.”

“…”

“Please tell me you ordered Lo Mein burritos, if not I’ve got the wrong house.”

“OH NO, I-I mean. Yes, we did. Sorry, I-I didn’t-“

“Its fine! Ha, Its not my best joke. I’ve got better ones, I swear.” The Delivery girl rubbed the back of her neck.

“Oh, you’ll have to tell me more of them.” The girl beamed.

“OH I WILL, that’s a promise. WHELP, I gotta go, more food to drop off, more people to see, more puns to tell. OH! AND THANK YOU FOR THE TIP!” Amity watched her walk away, and when she was too far away to possibly hear her, Amity muttered.

“You’re welcome…”

Edric and Emira didn’t wait for Amity to come inside, they wanted to catch an in person glimpse of her crush, she was a bit too far away by the time they got there though.

Edric took one and Emira took the other, then they headed for the dining room. Though this time, Amity stopped when she was almost there, considering something.

“Lo Mein Burritos? Really?” Edric shrugged.

“I was curious.” He responded, opening boxes to see what was inside each one. Amity shivered.

“I’m going to have to keep eating this food for the rest of my life, aren’t I.” Emira reached over for a burrito.

“I mean.” She said, stopping before taking a bite, “Maybe until you move in together- “

“EMIRA!” Amity squeaked, face red.

The twins burst out laughing, they couldn’t believe how funny this was. Though, they refrained from cracking jokes while eating, for fear of choking while laughing at Mittens expense.


	3. Chapter 3

On Saturday, Emira’s cold had worsened, and Edric and Amity bullied Emira into stying in bed. God forbid they miss a day of school, least their parents find out. So she had to get as much rest as she could while she was able too.

While Amity did her part in taking care of her sister, such as bringing her things that she needed like water, blankets, medication, ect.

It was Edric who went above and beyond.

He turned on her favorite show at a volume low enough that she could have white noise when she slept without it waking up. He was constantly checking if she was too hot or cold, made sure she actually drank the water Amity brought her, and forced her to take the meds. 

He tied her hair behind her face so it wouldn’t get tangled while she slept.

He filled a hot water bottle and wrapped it in towels to keep it warm, leaving it on her bedside table in case she woke up too cold.

Any tiny thing that Edric was able to do, he did.

Then when there was nothing left for him to do, but let his sister rest, Edric felt…lost.

He paced around the halls, rubbed his hands together, and fidgeted with kitchen appliances he didn’t understand. At one point, he slumped down with his back against his sister’s bedroom door, just waiting…Ready to be there if she needed him.

And he waited.

Amity was working in the home theater; she liked it in there. It was open enough to enjoy the echoes of pencil on paper as she wrote, but the velvet chairs and mini staircases helped make the space still feel cozy.

She was stretched out over multiple seats. Writing in the light of some nature document playing on silent. The dim lights and the Koalas in the rain started to lull her to sleep. Maybe a few moments just pressing her face against the cool paper would be fine…

“Hey Amity.” Amity jolted, knocking her papers under the reclining chairs. Edric’s indoor voice was deafening in comparison to the peace of the room, and it took Amity a moment longer than she would like to admit to remember which room she was in.

“Yikes, sorry ‘bout that.” Edric apologized casually, entering the aisle and setting himself down on one of the chairs Amity was previously lying on, draping both his arms across the back of the seats, settling his left ankle on his right knee. Amity was rubbing her eyes with the palm of her hand.

“Ugh,’ She groaned, she was still waking up and wondered how much time she had wasted asleep.

Penguins were on the screen now.

Edric just…Continued to sit there. Occasionally looking at the screen, at the groggy Amity, or at the lights that lined the staircases and walls.

Amity, annoyed at his entrance at first, now though was kind of confused. She took a second to just stare at him. Edric seemed almost…Awkward. Like he didn’t know what to do with his limbs or where to focus his eyes.

“So…” Edric began. “Writing…English?” He questioned. Amity looked down at her fallen work.

“Uh, no. I was writing my second draft for a biology paper due on Wednesday.”

Silence fell over them.

“…How’s Emira? Still sleeping?” Edric removed his arms from the back of the chair and pulled his legs up, wrapping his arms around them.

“Yeah, she’s knocked out…Hoping I can get her up before 10:00 to eat some of that left over Tomatillo Noodle soup…Or maybe I’ll make Jello. That’s something you give sick people, right?” He rested his chin on his knees.

Amity thought for a second. Did you give sick people Jello? Its gelatin, easy to digest, has suga-Edric chuckled, and she lost her train of thought.

“You know,” Edric chuckled again, it wasn’t a happy noise. “It’s been awhile since it was just you and me, ya know? I honestly can’t remember the last time the two of us really…Talked. Or were even just in the same room alone together.”

Amity stared at Edric, and she tried. She really really tried.

Amity could remember plenty of times it was just her and Emira, but that was sister stuff. Stuff she wouldn’t dare go to her mother for, and things she would probably die of embarrassment of if they were ever even mentioned to Edric.

But other than that…He was right.

Neither could she.

“Huh…” Amity sank further down into her seat. Watching the baby penguins huddle together while the parents were fishing.

They spent who knows how long sitting there, Amity’s rough draft long forgotten. Just watching the silent baby penguins fight off Skuas, freeze in the snow, and jump into Artic water for the first time.

A Killer Whale was waiting for them.

Amity stood up, startling Edric who’s eyes were nearly glazed over.

“Come on,” Amity grabbed at his forearm and pulled. “Let’s go make Jello.”

The two rummaged through the kitchen, misplacing spices and tools, dropping a glass or two, and maybe destroying a months’ worth of yeast, but they still managed to find several boxes of unflavored gelatin, granulated sugar, food dye, and several bottles of concentrated fruit flavoring.

The box wasn’t any help so after searching and scrutinizing several Pinterest accounts, they figured out the correct ratios and the duo concocted a lime, a raspberry, and a coconut Jello. Both had their doubts on the coconut, but curiosity won out.

With the Jello’s setting in the fridge, the two kinda sorta put the kitchen back together and set a timer for 4 hours to wait for it to set.

In the meantime, Edric and Amity strolled through the Manor and talked. They talked about how Olivier had protested the extra day off even though it was with pay, about how Emira nearly passed out in class yesterday, and how Amity’s biology teacher always gives her the stink eye because of the hell Edric and Emira put her through when they took that class.

They started grabbing random decorations and began tossing them back and forth as they carried themselves through the halls.

They talked about how Edric wished they could add a microwave to that giant kitchen of theirs.

They theorized about who stole Emira’s wallet.

They talked about how great it was that Boscha didn’t have their same lunch.

Amity talked about how it sucked that Edric and Emira’s friends didn’t share the same lunch as them.

Edric kept quiet when that came up.

And they talked.

And talked.

And talked.

Around 9, the slap of bare feet against wood alerted them of Emira, walking down the grand staircase in a house robe and mismatching PJs. She was immediately pulled into the kitchen where the three sat on the kitchen island, ate surprisingly good Jello, and talked about nothing in particular for the rest of the night.


	4. Chapter 4

It was raining on Thursday. So the Chauffeur Charlie was going to drive them to school.

He was a quiet, older man. Not much for conversation. Though if you were to ask him, he would proudly start name dropping all the people he’s driven for in the past.

The ride to school was silent between the siblings, besides the occasional sniffle from Emira thanks to her nearly gone head cold.

On the windows, rapid fat raindrops raced each other down to the bottom of frame.

When they stopped at a light, Edric leaned forward to flip on the radio. Amity turned to face his direction, and out his window she saw the blurry view of the Taco Dragon restaurant, yet to open for the day.

That delivery girl forced her way into her mind and Amity quickly turned back to her window, already feeling her face go red, her ears heating up thinking about those big brown eyes, strong arms, and contagiously happy laugh.

When they finally got to the school, Amity jumped out before the car was even fully parked, yammering about meeting Willow before bolting it to first period. Where she hid her face in her arms, waiting for the bell to ring.

After her morning classes, Amity met up with Willow and Gus outside the chemistry classroom before making their was to lunch.

On their way, Amity spotted Edric and Emira, leaning up against the lockers as much as they were leaning against each other. Both bored and annoyed out of their minds while surrounded by their parent approved posse. The group around them were chattering and gossiping, their voices lost among each other.

Emira would pipe in a “Oh really?” every now and again. And Edric would give a curt laugh on cue every few seconds, the two desperately waiting for the right opportunity to peel away from the crowd.

Amity lost sight of them when she entered the cafeteria.

When it was time to go home, Edric and Emira stormed out of the building, marching to the car where they fumed for the entirety of the drive.

Amity tried to just stare out the window and enjoy the ride, though it was difficult when your siblings were furiously typing on their phones; Literally texting each other while seated side by side. Whether it was because they didn’t want either the driver or Amity overhearing their conversation, she wasn’t sure.

Despite the constant dinging of phones going off, Amity’s focus perked when they drove past Taco dragon again, this time the building was on her side of the window. 

They stopped at the light once again, and Amity watched as someone with a purple umbrella got out of their beaten up car and walked towards the entrance of the restaurant. They put down their umbrella under the protection of the door, and when that purple tinted hair popped up Amity’s ears burned.

A weird Cat…Dog? She couldn’t tell from the distance, rushed out the entrance and began spinning around her legs and climbing up to curl around her shoulders.

The light turned green and if the twins weren’t so distracted, they would have noticed Amity unbuckle her seatbelt to turn completely around, facing the back window, refusing to look away until the entirety of the building was out of sight.

After getting home, Amity hardly saw either of her siblings for the rest of the day, as they immediately stormed upstairs. Only coming down to quickly get dinner from Olivier before going right back to what they were doing.

The next day it was still raining, and when they were piling up into the car, Amity made a mental note about how…Oddly happy the twins seemed compared to yesterday. Heads held high, a confident walk, and practically radiating “We are the best.” Vibes while strutting through the school entrance.

After years of pranks, Amity has a reason to be paranoid when her siblings have a sudden change in mood. It more often or not meant that they were trying to lull her into a false since of security, and she wasn’t taking any chances.

Amity checked her lunch, it wasn’t covered black pepper.

She checked her gym clothes, no itching powder.

She checked her textbooks, no glitter hidden between the pages.

Still she remained on guard.

At the end of morning classes, Amity told Willow to go ahead to lunch, lying about turning in extra credit or something, hoping that her delay would throw Edric and Emira’s plan off course.

She waited for the hallways to clear, it wasn’t any fun to prank someone at school without others around to see.

Poking her head out of the room, she looked both ways, then quickly but carefully dashed down the halls.

She was gonna make it, just a turn here and-

There they were, facing the lockers just outside of the Cafeteria.

Amity stumbled, then backtracked. Breathing heavy and hoping they didn’t see her.

There was another way to the cafeteria, but she would have to go around the whole building. It would take up half the time they had for lunch just to get inside, so she decided to wait. Hopefully they would give up and decide to just go and eat sooner rather than later so she could sneak in behind them.

Amity pressed herself to the wall and ever so carefully, peaked around the corner.

Amity imagined her siblings might have been staring at the lockers which probably containing their prank. Tapping their feet, checking their phones, and pouting about Amity being late and now they were missing lunch.

Instead, they were both huddling around someone, Jerbo she thinks their name was, who they had been effectively trapped by the two.

Amity couldn’t hear what they were saying to him, but whatever it was, The twins didn’t seem to be willing to let up.

After several minutes of what appeared to be the twins simultaneously trying to threaten, and bargain with the terrified student, Jerbo slipped away, escaping past the double doors of the cafeteria. Edric and Emira argued with each other for a moment before finally going to lunch themselves. Amity following soon after.

On the ride home, Edric and Emira’s sour moods had returned full force, along with the rain. Amity hoped that the shower settled down soon, feeling guilty if her crush had to drive in a storm just to deliver fusion food. Plus drivers were stupid when it rained, what if she got in a crash?

Edric and Emira kept sulking throughout the evening. Emira didn’t even take joy in their new tradition of turning Amity into a blushing mess every Friday. She just grabbed two sodas, slammed the fridge shut, and grumbled in passing.

“Your girlfriends on the way Mittens.” She took a sip of her drink while Amity choked behind her.

It was still raining, but only lightly, so Emira didn’t think too much about the inconvenience. Besides, she was sure that her little sister would enjoy the opportunity to help the delivery girl with her bags if need be.

Hmm…They really should figure out her name.

While Amity waited by the door, or sat curled up on the Love seat pretending that she wasn’t waiting with baited breath, Emira went to where she and her brother always go to spy on their sisters reaction.

Down the hall, there was a Drawing room. Filled with several cushy sofas and mirrors, a few intricate carved coffee tables, and strangely enough a small crystal chandelier.

This specific Drawing room was originally created as a place solely for the Blight children to bring their “Friends.” Though it was more often than not used as a Hide-Away of sorts for the twins. The door to the room was nearly smooth with the wall, only a delicate handle and shallow carving in the wood gave it away. Making it an unintentionally perfect place for them to sneak away too during their parents parties, with guests not even realizing the door was there unless they were looking for it.

Edric was currently sprawled out on a green Chesterfield in the corner. Staring down at his iPad, irritated while he tapped away.

Emira chucked one of the bottles at Edric, missing him and harmlessly bouncing off the cushion into his lap.

With a huff, Emira plopped herself down on an Ottoman across from him. Leaning back and supporting herself with one arm. Emira glared at the fizzing liquid swirling around in the plastic.

“We’re Awesome.” Emira asserted to the open air. Edric grunting in agreement, still typing.

“We. Are. Awesome.” She insisted, more aggressive and not a doubt in her mind.

“We’re cool.” Emira sits up, unscrewing her drink. “We’re Smart.” The top pops off “We’re friendly.” and takes a sip, twiddling with the cap in one hand. “Who wouldn’t want to be around us.” She flings the cap across the room, hitting one of the many mirrors and frustratingly doesn’t shatter it into a million pieces like she would have loved it too.

Edric resisted slamming the iPad down, or following his sisters led and shattering a mirror of his own. Resolving to just tossing the thing to the end of the seat, before grabbing his drink and thankfully having the since to slowly untwist the cap where the scream of pressure releasing makes him wonder just how hard his sister had shaken it.

Edric was gritting his teeth, they had finally convinced eachother to do what they wanted, too hangout with who they wanted. If Mittens could have actual friends, why couldn’t they?

They had spent hours negotiating on who they wanted to befriend first, both having different people in mind. In the end Emira was the one who caved, and they settled on Jerbo. Like most of their classmates, they’ve known him for years, but other than group projects and highly scrutinized school events where anything they did would be reported back to their parents, they never really spoke.

They shared most of their classes with Jerbo, and thought he was a cool dude; though his lack of confidence and clumsiness tended to make him the butt of others jokes.

He was genuine, ignoring or maybe not even noticing the laughter behind his back while absorbed in the contents of a biology textbook.

The twins had also both seen him go out of his way for his two best friends.

Emira caught him taking the blame when Viney accidently broke a bottle of acid. Emira remembering how Viney had broken another bottle on Monday, and the teacher threatened not to give her a college referral.

Edric saw him in the library, silently learning Sign Language with Barkus, who Edric had embarrassingly only recently realized was mute.

They had planned everything out.

Edric and Emira had decided that they were going to catch Jerbo right before lunch, and offer to take him shopping after school, their treat. Then Edric would steal a chair from someone else’s table so the three could eat lunch together, surly his friends wouldn’t mind one lunch without him, right? Then the three would partner up in lab, maybe Emira could bribe Skara into labing with Viney for a day. Then they would finish it off by sending Mittens home alone and call for a second car to take them downtown for a shopping spree.

Everything looked so good on paper…Only for it all to blow up in their faces.

They made sure the charisma was practically seeping off them when Edric pulled the confused student from the crowd headed for lunch, to the lockers.

Emira asked Jerbo how his day had been so far.

Edric asked how he thought he did on the pop quiz earlier.

Jerbo answered hesitantly, completely perplexed and slightly terrified of the Blight twins sudden undivided attention.

This small talk went on as Edric and Emira tested the waters, also both had been legitimately interested on what Jerbo put down for question #6, which had been a free write.

“Soooo,” Edric pretended to stretch, Jerbo took a small step back “We’re headed Downtown after school…” Emira nodded excitedly, finishing her brothers thought.

“…And we were wondering if you wanted to come along-” Emira stepped closer, Jerbo took another step back.

“-Our treat.” Edric followed him.

Jerbos eyes were like that of a deer caught in headlights, and the twins were like cheetahs who spotted their prey and were ready dart after it if it ran. Jerbo tried to make himself look smaller under their eyes.

“Uh…” Jerbo swallowed, “I-I’m not sure-“ Emira made a show dismissing his concerns. Jerbo’s back hitting the lockers when he backed away from her hands.

“Oh, it’ll be fun. You’ll love it.” Her smile was blinding. “After all, we know all the best places.” Edric started counting on his fingers.

“For shopping, food, entertainment-“

“Again, our treat.” Emira trilled. Jerbo gave a nervous laugh, before trying to stand a little straighter.

He said no.

HE SAID NO.

He wasn’t interested.

Didn’t know them that well.

Appreciated the offer but couldn’t take them up on it.

In the Drawing room, the twins were still dumb founded, thinking every detail of the encounter over and over again.

What the hell had they done wrong?

After Jerbo had rejected the outing, they had tried to reassure him there weren’t any tricks involved. They just wanted to have him tag along.

He kept refusing, kept looking for an opportunity to get away.

The twins had scrambled. Laying it on heavy with promises of how great he would look with a new luxury watch, custom shoes, tailor fitted outfits.

How they would get him a new phone, a hair cut from the greatest stylist around, even pull strings for last minute dinner at a Michelin-Star restaurant. They had offered him everything they could think of that he would have wanted.

And he slipped away as fast as he could. Disappearing into the cafeteria, leaving the Blights baffled.

Edric laid his head flat, tossing his bottle cap straight up and catching it repeatedly, thinking of what they could have done different.

“Maybe if we had waited til after school…” He mused outloud, Emira thought it over, shuffling the chain of events in her mind.

“Maybe if we insisted he ate lunch with us first…Then asked him before lab-“

“-LAB! We should have asked him at lab.” Edric groaned, Emira shook her head.

“That wouldn’t work. He would have just thought we were using him for a better grade.” Emira argued “We could have held him in the time between lunch and lab until the pressure of being late made him agree.”

“Yeah but then we would’ve been late.” Edric dismissed, missing the bottle cap on its way down and letting it hit his forehead before bouncing off onto the carpet.

A sharp chirp sounded from the iPad, indicating that someone had just crossed the Blights property line.

Edric used his feet to pull the iPad back over to him, where he reopened the feed from the security system. Emira dropped to the floor and scooted over to him, resting her elbow’s on the sofa.

When the Delivery Girl’s car left the view of one camera, Edric clicked away to the next, until she parked at the end of their massive driveway. The rain was just above a sprinkle now, but she still pulled out a large purple umbrella to help cover her and the food while she hiked to the front door.

Changing the camera to the one hidden above the door way, they watched as Mittens clumsily leaned against the doorframe, in a way that they supposed was meant to look cool.

The twos voices were muffled, staticy, and distorted, the rain not helping, but they were still able to make out the majority of the conversation.

“Taco Dragon Delivery!” Emira grinned at the pure optimistic energy their sisters crush always seemed to lug around. “Seems like you know we have the best Wok Guac on the block.”

“HI! Hello! Uh, sorry about the rain. Shouldn’t have made you drive in all of that.” Amity sounded truly guilty. She’s noticed the state of the car she was forced to use, and Edric definitely agreed. Worried it was a single hydroplane away from disaster.

The Delivery Girl shrugged it off.

“Eh, its no big deal, really. Hardly anyone’s on the roads right now anyways. Besides, your like one of my favorite people to deliver too.”

“Really!” Even through the black and white feed of the camera, they could see Mittens face darken.

“Yeah! You can take a pun, and rhyming schemes. I’m trying those ones out. Eda gave me 4/10 on that one.”

“Well.” Mittens took a hesitant step closer; the delivery girl took this as the cue to hand her the bags. “I’m giving it a 5-star review.” Stepping under her umbrella to help with the one-armed transfer.

Emira cooed at the sight, though questioned the lack of reaction of the delivery girl.

“She has to realize she’s being hit on right now…Right?” Edric put a hand on his cheek in thought.

“I…I don’t think she does.”

They looked back at the screen.

Amity was the only one if view, one bag on the wet ground while she waved goodbye slightly franticly.

“Hmm.” They said in unison.

With the show over, they left the drawing room in slightly better moods, but the initial frustration from the day still hung around while they ate “Wok Quac” with fried wontons and ginger fried Tostones.

Well…They had all weekend to figure out where they went wrong.

When Monday comes.

Jerbo isn’t going to know what hit him.

It was 2:00 am, and Amity just wanted a glass of water.

Using her phone as a flashlight, she carefully worked her way down cold hallways to the kitchen. Yawning and rubbing her eyes, she nearly missed her brothers voice. She stopped for a moment.

Edric kept talking, it was formal and obedient. A voice that was everything he wasn’t, A voice that she’s heard a million times when addressing their parents.

It was coming from the parlor.

Turning off her phones light, she used the wall to guide her to where her brother was.

A small lamp was turned on, giving just enough light to see Edric in his pajamas, curled up against a sofas armrest.

“Yes Father.” He answered, after a few moments followed by another “Yes Father.”

This was a one-sided conversation. Amity at first was worried that something serious or horrible must have happened if her father was calling so early, until she remembered her parents were in Hawaii and the times were different.

“Yes….Of course, I’ll do it first thing on Monday. At the start of the morning shift………Thank you Father.” Edric’s shoulders slumped and he rubbed the bridge of his nose, Amity thought this was the end of the conversation before Edric suddenly perked up.

“Yes…Her card was damaged, so we had it replaced…We were using…She was using the Holographic seal in lab to show an example of how official or esteemed documents and products are chemically treated to prove authenticity…I accidently moved it too close to an open flame and the seal was damaged…Yes Father……..Nothing of the sort…….It arrived Thursday after school and was activated immediately……Yes….………….I understand ……………..Yes Father..…Goodbye father.”

After hanging up Edric looked drained, chewed up and spit out.

Amity knows what it feels like answering to their parents…How it takes everything out of you.

Quietly, she headed back upstairs.

She wasn’t thirsty anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

It’s 4:56 am Monday morning when Edric finally drags himself to bed. Exhausted and burned out while he shuffles into his room, barely remembering to close the door softly.

The morning shift for the Manors staff teams begin a 4:00 am sharp every Monday and Wednesday, usually Friday as well, but the new schedule he and Emira had drawn up was granted to more then just the kitchen staff.

He couldn’t bring himself to sleep that night. The conversation with his father replying itself over and over again in his head, only taking a short break when he and Emira decided to go downtown themselves to personally pick out a few gifts that would hopefully help prove their legitimacy to Jerbo. It was fun spending the day with his sister, scrutinizing the products and figuring out just the right things to win over their soon-to-be-friend. All while making the self-important salesman’s sweat with all their questions.

Other then that short reprieve however, his fathers commands took up everything else he did. Echoing when he ate or when he tried to sleep.

Forbidden from telling either of his sisters, Edric was forced to hide the internal struggle he was barely managing to contain.

Alone that morning, Edric snuck out of his room fully dressed, and creeped through the hallways that held the entrances to all the siblings bedrooms.

Now, still dark outside, Edric crashed into his cushions, only bothering to kick off his wing-tipped shoes before burrowing under the sheets. Cringing and hating himself for what he had just done.

Firing people was never supposed to be easy, and it should never be taken lightly, but It was a fact of life when having people who worked under you. Their parents had drilled that their children’s heads through out their lives. Edric always figured it would be a piece of cake if not a bit awkward. Agreeing that if you hire someone, you just need to accept that you might need to fire someone.

When his father called, questioning Emira’s Card, how he was managing the staff, and how he was socializing with the higher class students, he answered everything as crisply as had always been expected of him.

Even when his father ever so casually ordered him to personally fire several members of staff from every team. With the exception of the kitchen staff since his parents trusted them not to poison their children.

Edric hated it. Every second. The look of realization on the people’s faces, the questions he wasn’t able to answer, the apology’s and promises for letters of recommendation. He hated it.

What got him the most, the reason it kept eating up at his was that there was the reason behind the staffs purge.

Alador wanted to see if Edric could do it.

No other reason. On thieving maids, not even a gardener planting the wrong flowers.

His father just wanted to make sure that Edric could do it. That he could fire staff members he’s grown up around. Maids he remembers hiding behind when he broke Emira’s favorite music box. Gardeners that lied about seeing the Twins sneak back inside at 2:00 am.

Edric groaned under his blankets, hoping he can force himself to forget and manage an hour or two of sleep before he needed to rush to get ready for school.

Hopefully the gossip from the staff that leaked wouldn’t be too horrible either.


	6. Chapter 6

“EDRIC!” Emira screeched, doing her best to beat a hole straight through her brother’s bedroom door. If they didn’t leave in the next instant, their chances of being late, even with Charlie driving them, ran dangerously high.

The last time one of the siblings had been marked late for a class, all three of them had to deal with the inferno which was their parents’ fury. Even with them several hundred miles away, Emira could practically feel the heat from her mother’s lecture on how a Blight shouldn’t even know what “Being late.” Or anything of the sort even feels like.

Amity was already waiting in the car with her and her sister’s schoolbags after Emira forced her bag’s into Amity’s arms promising that she was going to kill Ed and didn’t want his blood to ruin her things. 

Finally a dressed, if not wrinkled, Edric yanked his door open; Holding his shoes and a tiny shopping bag. Ed was then yanked out the doorframe by his sister, who he followed in a dead sprint through the house, and into the massive garage where their Chauffeur Charlie and Amity were waiting. 

Emira slammed the poor luxury cars doors and not a second later Charlie was flooring it out of the garage, down the driveway, and onto the street where he slowed to the legal limit despite the sibling’s begging for him to break every road rule possible. 

While Amity was in the car waiting for Emira to drag Edric out of his room, she noticed that along with her sisters usual school bag, she also had a small white shopping bag. 

Normally she wouldn’t care, this isn’t the first time Emira or even Edric had brought something new and shiny to their friends still in the bag, but after their weird behavior last week, topped with Edric’s call with their father. She figured a second to look inside wouldn’t hurt. Maybe she hoped whatever was inside would magically fill her in on what her siblings were trying to keep to themselves. 

Carefully, trying to seem inconspicuous to Charlie who was currently adjusting the GPS, she dug her hand around in the little bag.

And pulled out a pair of watermelon tourmaline cufflinks. 

Amity blinked.

Sure they were lovely little things, rectangles that perfectly transitioned from vibrant pink to green wrapped in gold…Though not exactly Emira’s style. 

After a moment the echoes of her sibling’s feet hitting pavement reached her ears and she quickly placed the cufflinks back in the bag before she could be caught. 

She and Emira fumed at Edric the first few minutes of the ride while he apologized and put on his shoes. 

As they got closer to the school, the twins started to worry less about being late and more about Edric’s appearance. Him trying to smooth out his clothes, and Emira trying to work his bed head into something less reminiscent of a thorn bush. While the two argued about hair pulling and lack of combs, Amity’s eyes caught sight of a different, slightly larger grey shopping bag that Edric had brought with him. 

Biting her lip, Amity was starting to really regret going through Emira’s bag, because now all she can think about is what could be in Edrics.

Charlie refused to unlock the doors until the vehicle came to a complete stop, so when he did the siblings booked it. 

Ignoring the angry shout of “NO RUNNING IN THE HALLS!” from some teacher they would worry about later, the siblings made it to their respective classes with literal seconds to spare.

The morning was chaotic, the day was a dull, pulsating pain. Willow was out sick do to getting a little too close to her mandrake extra credit, so she would have to partner with Boscha, who made way too many “And looks who’s come crawling back.” comments in trigonometry. 

Finally, during lunch Amity was able to shut off her brain and let Gus ramble on about the newest exciting history lesson that was most definitely not given by their actual history teacher.

While Amity was eating on the lower floor, Edric and Emira were smoothing over any last-minute details for their plan on the upper levels of the lunch room.

After lunch and the afternoon classes, she could finally go home; despite Boscha’s best efforts to convince Amity to join her and the rest of the gang at her house. 

Before amity got to the car, her phone rang and Emira’s contact picture of her winking her tongue sticking out popped up.

“Wha-“

“Hey, we got an after school opportunity here for some extra credit, so just run along home and have Charlie bring the car back after he drops you off OKLOVEYOUBYE!” A sharp beep indicating Emira hung up, and Amity pulled away her phone.

Hmm.  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
Edric and Emira’s last period had just ended, while students filed out of the room, the twins had to work extra hard to keep their eyes on Jerbo. He had been spending the whole of the afternoon avoiding them. Refusing to make eye contact, and when he did notice their absolutely friendly smiles, and did make the mistake of looking at them, he quickly turned away. 

He gave his friends a rushed farewell and weaved through the hallways, hoping to put as much distance between himself and the Blight twins as possible. 

After some minutes, Jerbo decided to hide in the library. Looking both ways before darting inside and ducking behind the Historical Fiction section. Jerboa let out a breath.

“HEY!” 

Jerbo jumped, an embarrassing squeak escaping his throat while he nearly knocked over the whole shelf. Edric chuckled while helping the student balance the tipping shelf before they both crouched down to pick up and replace the books that had fallen over.

Jerbo nervously scanned around, searching for the Blights sister. Those two are never apart, always close together in some capacity. Jerbo wasn’t even sure if he could pull up a memory of one without the other. 

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to spook you…”

Edric was talking, shoving the last book back. His eyes moving over random places, Edric’s fingers tapping on the wooden bookcase. Jerbo would say he looked nervous, But this was one of the Blight twins, the most confident and self-assured people he’s ever met. Why would he possibly be nervous. 

“It’s a…It’s no problem. I just…It’s a library, its quiet. Sudden noise ya know?”

“Right! Yeah, silence is golden and all that.” Edric said, pointing his thumb behind him to a poster with a panda holding a book that said, “Silence Is Golden.”

“HELLO!” Emira chimed, popping up just as suddenly and out of nowhere like her brother. This time making them both jump. 

And once again kneeling on the floor gathering fallen books. 

While stacking, Edric rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Listen Jerbo, about last Friday…” He quickly made eye contact before looking away, breathing a sigh through his nose. “Sorry about that.” Emira abandoned her book gathering in favor of crossing her legs on the floor and pulling her bag into her lap, digging around.

“We kind of…Well it wasn’t the best…” She tried to explain. “We, didn’t mean to make you think that we were trying to trick you somehow.” Emira pulled out her little white shopping bag, Edric following her lead and getting comfortable on the libraries carpeted floor. Jerbo shuffled, a small debate in his mind on whether to stay or sneak away.

Ultimately he got comfortable on the floor as well. 

When Edric pulled a small grey bag, he seemed to regret his decision, but curiosity kept him grounded. 

Edric tapped his nails against the laminated paper of the shopping bag, while Emira softy placed her in front of the confused and slightly alarmed Jerbo.

“We weren’t lying when we said we wanted to take you shopping with us…It was supposed to be fun, though I guess we gave off the wrong vibes…But I got you something I thought you might like.” Emira was fidgeting with the buttons on her boots. 

“So did I.” Edric placed his next to his sisters. And now with nothing for his hands to do, Edric started hesitantly tapping his nails together. 

Jerbo was thrown for an absolute loop. Blights were never nervous or unsure about anything, especially not Edric and Emira. Now they were sitting here, in front of him, clearly worried about something, while giving him things?!?!

Jerbo didn’t know what to do, what to think about any of this. Edric scooted a bit closer, a small smile on his face reminding him of Christmas morning. 

“Well go on, open them.” He was grinning, his twitchy fingers now fiddling in excitement. Emira was a bit more cautious, sinking slightly in on herself when Jerbo hesitantly, and oh so delicately dipped his hand into her bag first. 

Slowly he pulled out the Watermelon Tourmaline cufflinks. He blinked, turning them around. 

“Oh, wow their uh…Thank you…” Jerbo gave a nervous chuckle, and Emira returned with one of her own, scooting closer as well. Carefully plucking the cufflinks out of his hand and grabbing his sleeve.

“Their Cufflinks.” She clipped them onto his school uniforms jacket. “I remember last Halloween when Mrs. Mal brought candy to English. You stole all the strawberry and green apple Jolly Ranchers.”

“I stand by the fact that they are the greatest flavor combination to exist.” Jerbo defended, looking at the jewelry. 

It was odd, the new weight on his wrists, but mostly the tiny detail he himself had nearly forgotten.

All the way from last October.

Edric was practically singing inside while Jerbo examined Ems gift, ecstatic that he seemed to like it. 

Though he couldn’t help the self-doubt over what he had chosen. 

Em had always been the more observant one out of the two, so when she had picked out the cufflinks Downtown, he had taken her word for it. 

His gift didn’t have a story or some sentimental value. He began to panic, but like the Blight child he was, he was an expert liar and hid it. Hid his panic of the likely negative reaction, hid his fear of burning the single robe of a bridge he was trying to make stronger, hid his paranoia that Jerbo would decide that he only liked Em and they would both abandon him. His own sister and the guy he fought so hard to convince her for them to befriend first. 

He hid it all behind a confident smile and a straight posture when Jerbo pulled out Edric’s gift from the grey bag. 

Jerbo’s eyes widened like dinner plates and he was barely able to keep himself from dropping the gift back into the bag.

Jerbo’s 5th generation phone burned a hole in his pocket while he held the 14th generation in his hand. You weren’t even able to pre-order these yet, how could he have possibly gotten this???

“I know your phones a bit older...” Edric hid his hesitation and his stuttering. Hid the urge to tap his nails together until they shattered. “…and thought you would like something more up to date.” Edric was stiff straight, and Emira mimicked her Brothers posture. 

The twins had learned long ago that if they both did something together; it became harder for their parents to fish out individual ticks and signs of nerves. 

“This can’t be real.” Jerbo muttered, flipping the box around in his hand. 

“Oh no, it is! Here-” Like Emira, Edric plucked the box from Jerbo’s hands and nonchalantly tore the incredibly expensive device from its protective container and turned it on. Handing it back to Jerbo where the word “WELCOME.” Surrounded by a bright white screen met him. 

Jerbo was speechless. For several moments, he was torn between gawking at the new phone and the cufflinks that make him really crave Jolly Ranchers.  
He took a deep breath.

“Guys…These are great. Thank you.” 

The twin’s grins grew.

“But…I can’t accept these.”

Everything froze, the world stood still. 

No…

NONONONONO!

This wasn’t happening to them again!

“What?”

“Of course you can!”

“Their yours now.” 

Jerbo started to VERY CAREFULLY put the phone back in the box, and the twins panic levels skyrocketed. He already said no to hanging out, now he was going to reject their gifts. 

“This is WAY too much, I-I don’t even know why you’re doing this. Thank you but I’m not one of…your friends would probably-“

Their “Friends.” Would probably laugh in Emira’s face, insulted if she tried to give someone something as non-precious as Tourmaline.

Their “Friends.” Would complain to anyone and everyone if they didn’t have the newest phone once the factories started producing them.

Jerbo ever so delicately unclipped one of the cufflinks while they stared on in disbelief.

Emira didn’t expect the soft click of metal as Jerbo removed the cuffs to hurt so much.

Edric shot up suddenly, grabbing Emira’s hand and pulling his twin off the floor where they were all still sitting, walking them both out of the aisle, hiding behind a playful smile. 

“Too late! Their yours. No take backs, we didn’t even bring the receipts.” Emira caught on and forced herself to slip on an identical grin.

“Our numbers are already programed, you better text us when you get home!” her voice was crisp and joking as ever.

Jerbo started to scramble, and the twins sprinted out of the library, racing down the halls, and pulling each other out to the nearly empty parking lot where they hid behind one of the last buses that had yet to leave. 

Both breathing heavy from their escape, Emira blinking away an unexpected blurriness in her eyes, she pulled out her phone to find Charlies location.

He was still on the main road headed for them. They quickly made their way to their normal parking spot to wait.


	7. Chapter 7

Emira slammed the drawing room door open and collapsed on the couch. She snatched one of the silk throw pillows and screamed into it before chucking it across the room where it harmlessly bounced off the wall. Edric slinked in after her, and softly clicked the door closed before sliding down the length of it, slumping to the floor.

Emira ran her hands through her hair, replaying the interaction for the thousandth time.

“Cufflinks were a stupid idea, what was I thinking.”

“They weren’t-“

“HE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW WHAT CUFFLINKS WERE EDRIC!” Emira snapped, hair falling out of her braid. With a groan, she buried herself further into the cushion. A muffled “Sorry.” following immediately after. Edric sighed and knocked his head against the heavy wooden door.

“The cufflinks were fine…”

For a few minutes, the twins remained as they were. Emira muttering to herself all the better things she could have and should have picked out while the beat of Edric softly banging his head against the door filled the room.

Eventually, Emira rolled over to face her brother. Emira looked like she was about to say something, so Edric stopped his head knocking to look back at her.

After a second though, she changed her mind in favor of letting her eyes roam around the space. She ended up locking her gaze on some hair, most likely her own, in the carpet.

Off handedly Emira spoke. “I’m gonna have Mrs. Cleo deep clean these floors later.” Edric cringed.

“Can’t.” Edrics voice was sharp and aggravated, though not at Em.

“Hmm?”

“Can’t.” Edric repeated, sinking further in on himself.

“Did you stain something and hide it again?” Remembering how once he spilled a glass of stolen red wine and thought putting a chair in the middle of a hallway would keep it hidden. Thankfully they were able to bleach the hell out of it and no-one was the wiser.

“You can’t ask Mrs. Cleo.” Edric’s voice sounded very far away. Emira scoffed.

“She’s pretty much just making beds today, She can clean an extra carpet.”

“I fired her this morning.”

Silence.

If Edric looked anywhere but at his sister, there was silence. The second he met her eyes; he could practically hear the booming of furious questioning and screams.

“WHAT?” Emira was a lot of things at this moment.

She was shocked. Mrs. Cleo had been working for them for over a decade and never once did she do anything that might have caused her termination.

She was confused. Why is this just coming up now? She’s been with Edric all day, why hadn’t he said even a word about this.

She was hurt. Everything they did when deciding how to run the manor they did TOGETHER.

They decided to give the bourgeoisie and extra day off together.

They paid the bills and planned out work scheduled together.

They refused to hire the weird pool guy that was recommended to them together.

They never did anything without consulting each other.

Why this?

Why now?

“Dad called.”

Oh.

“He told me not to tell you or Mittens.”

Oh…

Edric snorted, he looked away and shook his head and sneered at the memory.

“Do you remember when they first told us about them leaving?” Edric dropped his hands to the floor and started picking at the carpet fibers. Emira dropped off her place on the couch and joined her brother on the floor, moving closer.

“Mother said she trusted us. Father said he knew we could do it?”

Edric let out a scratchy laugh.

“This isn’t the first time they lied, so why was I surprised when he called in the middle of the night last Friday, telling me to fire over a dozen people.”

Emira’s breath hitched. She started to do inventory in her mind. Who was gone? Who had she not seen that day?

Emira breathed out a why.

“To see if I could.” Edric shook his head.

Emira reached her brother and curled up against his side the same way they use to when one of them had a nightmare when they were younger.

“…Did he say anything else?” she hadn’t heard directly from either of her parents in nearly a month and was more then happy about it, but things tended to happen in pairs for the two.

Edric hesitated, debating whether or not to even bring this up.

But it was Em.

And he had already kept one secret from her.

“…He…asked about your card.”

Emira stiffened. Her eyes widened and a rush to ice water rant through her veins.

Of course he would, of course this wasn’t something her parents would overlook.

“I told him I damaged it during lab while you were showing off the “Prestigious” chemically treated seal of authentication.”

Emira relaxed slightly, before guilt started to seep in.

“You’re an idiot.”

“Yeah well, what’s new.”

“If they come after me for this, they’ll now come after you too.”

“Most definitely.”

Edric looked at his sister, who was once again going over a thousand different scenarios in her head. Terrified of what their parents might have up their sleeves next.

After firing several people that morning, nearly being late, and putting it all on the line to make friends with Jerbo. The thought of his parents, for the first time made him feel something different than usual.

“…I’m not scared.”

Saying it out loud to the room was surreal. His voice was perfectly level, but the words threatened to shatter the mirrors on the walls to pieces.

“I’m not scared.” He said it again, already addicted to the taste those three words left on his tongue.

Emira was silent and frozen next to him. Listening to her brother, not sure how to process the impossible thing he had just said.

In the back of Eds mind, two soft words started to repeat themselves, and he had a feeling they were going to get louder and louder over the next few weeks.

I’m not scared.

I’m Furious.


	8. Chapter 8

Amity was in her room, headphones blocking out the sound of the first few rain drops hitting her window.

Something she realized shortly after her parents left, was that she didn’t have to worry about them walking in on her doing literally anything other than schoolwork.

So, she had granted herself time to actually use her room like her room.

Watching movies on her laptop rather than in her secret library spot.

Openly writing in her diary vs. hiding the small book inside a larger book to make it seem like she was studying, or listen to music and dance around.

Right now, Amity was scrolling through her playlists, trying to find one to fit her mood before the uncoordinated dancing could commence.

PING!

A picture of her mother’s face from their latest family portrait popped up on screen, and amity found herself jumping up the same way she would when her room door use to open to reveal one of her parents.

The banner took up the top of the screen.

“Don’t forget Boscha’s slumber party Darling.” The text read.

Amity frowned and scrunched up her eyebrows, trying to remember all the socially obligated events she had to attend and for the life of her couldn’t recall-

Wait…

Frustration filled Amity who tossed her phone to the carpeted floor. Like a child, she flipped herself over and screamed into the sheets.

Bosch had tried to invite her over that day. To which she had brushed off and made up some halfhearted excuse like studying or that it was a school night.

Well, if there was one thing she knew about the football captain, it was that she worked fast.

Climbing down to the carpet, she crouched and pulled her duffle bag out from under. It was already filled with predetermined sleepover necessities like pajamas, a swimsuit, change of clothes, unopened toothpaste and toothbrush, mouthwash, and extra phone chargers.

Amity crawled over to her phone and grumbled to her mother words she would never dare say to her face.

“You aren’t even here, and you still have to control every little thing I do.”

Amity typed out a ‘Thank you, Mother.’ And shoved an extra school uniform into the bag.

Did this REALLY have to happen on a school night?

Sluggishly she sent a Quick text to Charlie telling him to bring the car around front, before changing into a more “Instagram-able” outfit.

She may not be able to stand Boscha anymore, but it was her party and if she didn’t play along then it was out of the frying pan and into the fire for her.

Edric and Emira were playing some multiplayer game with little people trying to make soup when she managed to drag herself downstairs.

The twins were sharing a bag of “Gourmet Popcorn.” between them, which Amity grabbed a handful from.

“Edric’s useless-“

“HEY!”

“Wanna take a turn next round?” Emira asked, refusing to take her eyes off the screen while Edric’s character fell off a truck with an oven on it.

Brushing the seasoning off her hands, Amity swallowed her mouthful like a proper Blight before responding.

“Honestly, yeah I do.”

“REALLY?” The twins screeched.

“I would rather do anything else right now, but Boscha somehow organized a slumber party on a Monday night in the last 2 hours, and even Mother texted to remind me of it.”

The stage ended and they twins turned around in their chairs, raising they eyebrows in perfect unison.

If Amity hadn’t know them all her life she wondered how often she would get creeped out by their mirror like tendencies.

“Seriously?” Edric asked. “Getting pretty desperate, isn’t she?” Amity adjusted the duffle bag over her shoulder and spoke like she was being choked.

“You don’t know the half of it.”

There was a ding from her phone, and she silently prayed it wasn’t from her mother.

Charlie texted her saying he was out front.

With a overexaggerated groan and another hand full of popcorn, she stomped away.

“I’m driving back with you after school tomorrow, don’t leave without me.” She held her duffle over her head rather than grab an umbrella, the rain had evolved into a full shower with no sign of slowing down.

“Good luck Mittens!” they chimed.

The door slammed, a few leaves from the wind flying inside.

The duo went back to their game, arguing over who should chop and who should grill for a good half hour.

Every few minutes however, one of them would sneak a glance at their own, and each others phones.

Waiting and hoping for a notification.

When Edric had bought Jerbo’s phone, they added his number to their devices as well.

And right now the temptation to text was nearly unbearable.

A ding from Edric’s phone and he all but threw his controller trying to reach for it, while Emira knocked over the popcorn swiping it before he could. Eagerly pulling up the icon, her brother looking over her shoulder.

“Batnurseyweekly just uploaded a new video.”

Both twins’ moods dampened. The game forgotten, Edric groaning and dramatically plopping onto the floor, surrounded by stray popcorn.

He’s totally gonna text them.

Right?

At 6:00, the rain started to pick up. Wind whistling as it blew through the branches of the property trees.

At 6:13, Edric’s phone went off again. He snatched it up only to see it was a confirmation that his Bathbomb order had been shipped.

At 6:47, Emira’s phone rang and she nearly tackled Edric when he picked up. They were both disappointed to realize it was just a scammer and something about some cars extended warranty.

At 7:00 sharp, dinner was served. Olivier had prepared Lemon and herb roasted Cornish game hens, wild stuffed mushrooms, and saffron rice.

At 7:30, all of the servants clocked out and went home.

At 8:12, both twins got Instagram notifications. One of their “Friends” had just shared a photo of their family’s aquariums newest addition. A maybe legal $30,000 Peppermint Angelfish named “Maraschino Cherry.”

They both liked and shared the post.

Emira commented: “I need to get a swimsuit with that color pattern STAT.”

Edric Commented: “If he follows your finger around the glass I might actually die from the cuteness.”

With a sigh they both dropped their phones on the dining room table, where they had continued to sit and wait for Jerbo’s text, even after their plates had been taken away.

Edric tapped his nails in generic musical rhythms against the reflective surface of the tables polished wood, and Emira tapped her in sync. Both staring at their phone’s menu screens, waiting for the banner notification from Jerbo.

At 9:03 Emira breathes out her nose, and mumbles mostly to herself.

“I’m hungry…”

Their rhythm continues for a moment.

Then they freeze.

Eyes wide.

Looking up at each other.

The very next second, Emira’s googling when Taco Dragon closes while Edric already has the phone to his ear.

The rain hasn’t let up any. Still angry and whistling louder than ever. The twins wince, pity for anyone having to drive in this.

At 9:42, the door bell rings.

Edric yanks the door open, and there she is. For the first time the twins are meeting their sisters crush face to face.

In one hand their food and in the other a large umbrella in danger of being blown away.

Her eyes widened in shock for a moment, before a bright slightly embarrassed smile filled her face again.

“Uh, Taco Dragon?” she raised the bag slightly. And for the life of him Edric couldn’t remember what they ordered. They were in such a rush to get the delivery before they closed, that he just rambled off whatever first popped into his mind.

“Yeah, Uh…” Edric pretended to pat himself down. “Oh, hold on. Oh darn, I forgot my wallet. Give me a moment.” He said before disappearing back into the house. Emira rolled her eyes, just a second ago he tore a wad of cash out of him wallet and stuffed it into his shirt pocket.

A crack of lightning filled the sky. Emira stepped to the side a bit.

“Hey, why don’t you step inside out of the rain for a bit.”

The girl hesitated. The patio was currently dry, rain being kept away from the door frame thinks to the structure.

Emira cursed herself, realizing how creepy this was. She cleared her throat and gestured to the love seat by the door.

“You can sit there while we wait. Honestly, the idiot probably left it in the fridge on accident.

The delivery girl giggled at that, and let her tense shoulders droop a little.

“You don’t have too, really. I’m fine standing.”

“Oh no! We called late at night, made you drive in the rain, I insist.” Emira was trying to put every ounce of charm into her voice, trying to be as welcoming as possible while Edric continued to pretend to look for his wallet.

After placing their order, Ed and Em tried to figure out how to convince this the delivery girl to stay for a bit longer than the usual 5 minutes, and they decided that if they could get her to sit down, they might be able to convince her to stay until the rain stops.

A friend of Mittens was a friend of theirs. Besides, they both always got a kick out of her puns when they watched the security footage.

After a moment of consideration, and an noticeably loud thunder clap, she agreed. She oh so carefully stepping onto the expensive tiled floors, and grip still on the food bags, then she softly sat down.

The moment she did, Edric burst from a hallway. Gripping a wad of cash.

“Got it, ahaha. Hm, sorry… about all of… that. The driving in the rain and such.’ Edric nervously brought a hand to the back of his neck. Their sisters crush perked up.

“Pffff, it’s no problem, really. No PRAWN-BlEM .” She chuckled at her pun. Emira looked at her phone.

“it’s getting pretty late… I hope you don’t have a bunch of houses to still visit.” The delivery girl relaxed a bit further.

“Thankfully, you guys are my last stop for the night.” Emira shot up.

“THAT’S GREAT!” Edric desperately tried to remain cool and collected for once in his life.

“She means, great… because you’re less likely to get in a car crash.”

“Y-yeah. This is horrid weather. “

“Just awful.”

“… You know if you wanted… “

“Really it wouldn’t be any issue.”

“You could stay a while until it lets up a bit?”

“Yeah, just for a bit.”

“We have video games-”

“-and movies.”

The delivery girl shook her head, her smile never leaving. She stood back up and held her arms out to Ed, who was pretending to count bills.

“That’s so sweet!” Her voice didn’t sound fake in the least, “But I can’t… “

“I mean you could… Uh.” Emira paused, giving the girl time to fill in the blank.

“Luz.”

“LUZ! Yeah, ya totally could.” Edric let her give him the bag before handing it off to Emira. Then Ed began giving Luz the bills one at a time.

“-and again thank you.” Luz tapped her toes on the floor, nudging some of the leaves that had found their way inside. “But Eda keeps a pretty sharp eye on her delivery drivers. If we take just a little longer than expected, she doesn’t hesitate and immediately calls the police in case something happened. Hah, before I started working there, I was told there was this dude-“She put the bills in her pocket and carefully opened the front door, Emira secretly pulled out her phone.

“-who’s girlfriend had called for something to be delivered, and later the police were literally knocking down the door.” The twins laughed, but internally they screamed. Now it looks like Mittens will have to find another way to spend any prolonged amount of time with Luz.

“Thank you again for letting me inside.” She turned to leave, and while her back was to the twins, Emira raised her phone and took a selfie with her and Edric winking at the camera, while you could only see the back of luz’s head and her umbrella.

“Well alright.” Emira called after her, Edric joined.

“Please drive safe!”

They closed the door, and almost immediately, the lifted mood was dragged back down.

Edric took over the love seat, sinking into it miserably, while Emira sank against the door, tapping against her phone. She couldn’t help A small smile from spreading across her face.

At Boscha’s sleepover, Amity and the girls were currently all in their pajamas, lounging in the reclining seats of Boscha’s owl home movie theatre. The other girls were arguing over which movie to watch before they all went to bed. while Amity kept her distance, silently drinking pomegranate juice.

When they were finally down to two movies to decide from, Amity’s phone dinged.

“her name is Luz, you’re welcome (Kissy face emoji)”

Amity raised an eyebrow.

Ding. A photo was sent.

Amity’s eyes widened and she pulled away her drink as she started choking. Getting the other girl’s attention but she waved them off. Saying something about swallowing wrong.

Both her siblings posing like idiots, while the delivery girl she had been unable to get out of her head was stepping out of her own front door.

Luz...


End file.
